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Tuesday, April 25, 2017

About 8.8% of Total H-1B Visas Processed from TCS, Infy: Nasscom

Nasscom, the apex body of the Indian IT industry, on Monday
refuted allegations of the US administration and defended TCS and Infosys,
saying that the two got only 7,504 H-1B visas, which is 8.8% of the total visas
processed during FY2015.

The clarification comes after the US complained that Indian
IT firms TCS, Infosys and Cognizant unfairly received a major share of H-1B
visas by putting extra tickets into the lottery system, which the Trump
administration wants to replace with a merit-based immigration policy.

In a statement issued on Monday, Nasscom stated that only six
of the top 20 H-1B recipients were Indian companies during FY2015. Indian
technology companies use H-1B visas to send their employees to work at customer
sites in the US, which is the largest market for the over $110-billion Indian
IT export industry.

Nasscom also stated, “Every reputable data source in the US
has documented a growing shortfall between the supply and demand for computer
science majors in the US workforce, especially in cutting-edge fields such as
cloud, big data, and mobile computing.”

It also states that all Indian IT companies cumulatively
account for less than 20% of the total approved H-1B visas although Indian
nationals get 71% of the H-1B visas. “This is a testimony to the high skill
levels of Indian-origin professionals, especially in the very coveted STEM
skills category. The US Department of Labor estimates that there will be 2.4
million unfilled STEM jobs by 2018, with less than 50% of these vacancies in
IT-related positions,” points Nasscom.

In the US, along with other global markets, there is a
growing sentiment of protectionism, including coming up with various measures
to safeguard jobs for locals and raise the bar for foreign workers.

Every year, the US grants 65,000 H-1B visas while another
20,000 are set aside for those with American advanced degrees. Also, the Trump
administration wants to replace the current lottery system with a more
merit-based immigration policy.

The annual number of Indian IT specialists working on
temporary visas for Indian IT service companies is about 0.009% of the
158-million-member US workforce. “A survey also finds that the average wage for
visa-holders is over $82,000 apart from a fixed cost of about $15,000 incurred
for each visa issued which includes visa cost and related expenses. This is
over 35% higher than the minimum prescribed exempt wage of $60,000,” states
Nasscom.